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'The Walking Dead' Season 4, Episode 11 Review: 'Claimed'

The following post contains spoilers through Season 4, Episode 11 of ‘The Walking Dead.’

Sunday night’s episode of The Walking Dead, ‘Claimed,’ picks up where the previous two episodes left off.

We continue in a similar vein, exploring two of the branching stories of the prison survivors as they make their way from danger to danger, and apparently toward a new safe haven—Terminus (or “final destination.”)

I suspect our various groups of stragglers, or at least some of them, will make their way to Terminus, and a joyful reunion will be had.

But I hope we won’t linger there for very long. As nice as a safe zone is for Rick and company, for viewers of AMC’s zombie-drama, there’s nothing more terrifying than another long hibernation in a static place—be that prison, farm, or train station.

‘Claimed’ didn’t have any terribly silly moments in it—certainly nothing as bizarre and inexplicable as Tyreese’s actions in the previous episode. It also managed to pull off some great tension and character development.

We’re introduced more thoroughly to Abraham Ford and his small troupe of survivors, on their way to Washington D.C. to “save the world” thanks to a scientist who apparently knows what started the zombie apocalypse in spite of his mullet. Appearances can be deceiving.

Ford isn’t a villain, which is good, and I kind of like the idea of characters out to actually make a difference.

Fool’s errand or no, sincere or no, I like the idea of heroism being sprinkled into the mix rather than just survival all the time. I’m not betting on any of the new cast members lasting past the end of Season 4, but a little hope doesn’t hurt. And Ford could bring some much-needed comic relief to the show as well, if they play his cards right.

We do get some new villains, and I suspect these will be around to stay. Rick gets into a nerve-wracking situation with these—let’s call them “bandits”— at the house he, Michonne, and Carl had bunkered down in while he’s resting there alone.

While the tension in this sequence was palpable enough, Rick’s eventual scuffle with one of the men was the silliest moment in ‘Claimed.’ There’s simply no way none of the other bandits heard Rick and his assailant fighting in the upstairs bathroom.

(Also, why was the guy sitting on the toilet with the lid down and his pants on in the first place?)

It’s little things like this that bug me. Why didn’t Rick take the gun from the sleeping bandit? Or knife him while he slept? These are obviously really bad dudes, and Rick is a survivor, deeply protective of his son.

Why did we need to learn that two episodes ago at all? Wouldn’t it have been more interesting and poignant to learn it today instead, to have Michonne’s revelation to Carl be just as surprising to the viewer?

Sometimes episodes feel too detached from one another. Sure, the story is carried on from one to the next, but the way details are fed to the audience often makes little sense.

Meanwhile, Glenn is marching back to find Maggie, and through bad luck or serendipity, Ford and everyone else ends up tagging along—saving the world placed on temporary hold for no real reason.

The scientist who can apparently save the world simply decides that backtracking the wrong way makes more sense because they somehow know that way is “clear.” Because zombies don’t move around I guess.

I liked ‘Claimed’ a lot more than last week’s entry. There was some great dramatic tension, good dialogue, and some cool, creepy moments like when Michonne finds the family-suicide room.

But despite all of that, The Walking Dead feels slow, like a show that isn’t quite sure how to push the story forward, and so meanders without purpose instead. That can be fine for a while, but at a certain point we’re going to need to ramp up the drama and pull all these disparate threads together.

And when that happens, let’s hope we’re not simply left languishing at yet another safe haven. When the show stops moving, it starts withering on the vine. If nothing else, The Walking Dead needs to keep up its momentum.

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